An Account of the Battle of Chateauguay eBook

It is the privilege of the men of Chateauguay to remember
that their region is haunted by the spirits of heroes.

“The dead still play their part”

sings the Canadian poet Sangster, and here the musing
thought must for ever conjure up De Salaberry, McDonell,
the 800 waiting behind their breastworks in the gloom
of the woods, the touching scene of Captain Longtin
and his Beauharnois men, and the stubborn onset of
Daly against overwhelming odds. The meaning of
it all is: that given a good cause, and the defence
of our homes against wanton aggression, we can dare
odds that otherwise would seem hopeless; that it is
in the future, as in the past, the spirits of men,
and not their material resources, which count for
success; that we need only be brave and just, and
ready to die, and our country can never be conquered;
and that we shall always be able to preserve ourselves
free in our course of development towards our own
idea of a nation.

APPENDIX.

NOTES BY W. PATTERSON, M.A.

1. Mr. James Walsh, Sr., who still resides in
Ormstown, Que., was informed by one Saint Charles
Moreau, alias Legault, that the stone house, situated
on the Chateauguay about two miles below the village
of Ste. Martine, and known during the early years
of the present century as “The Stone Tavern,”
had just been built and finished the day before the
battle, and the officers of the Canadian forces unceremoniously
took possession of it on coming forward that evening.

2. This same Legault or Moreau, shortly after
the battle and before the dead were removed, visited
the scene of the fight. There he saw several
dead and several dying. He had a vivid recollection
of the cruelty of the Indians. “The cursed
savages,” said Legault, “did nothing to
secure the victory, and yet were foremost in plundering
the dead and dying.” He remembered in particular
having seen an American officer, who was seriously
wounded, lying on the field. The officer had
a coin in his mouth which he was evidently anxious
to save. An Indian, upon noticing this, bade
him by making signs open his mouth and give up the
piece. The command being apparently misunderstood,
the Indian impatiently struck him with his tomahawk
on the forehead. As his head was knocked back
by the blow, the man opened his mouth, and his assailant
taking out the coin passed on.

3. Mr. David Monique, who lived at the “Portage”
(modern Dewittville) at the time of the war, used
to say, as Mr. Walsh many a time heard him relate,
that his impression was that the Canadians did not
hang upon the American rear after the fight, for had
they done so, the American guns, which were all left
behind, would have been captured. A division
retreated up the Island of Jamestown by way of the
“Portage,” on the South side of the Chateauguay,
passing on their route Mr. Monique’s farm.